A mixed bag for my Badgers
I suppose I could open this story about sports. I mean, after all, the Green Bay Packers are looking great, even with a ton of injuries ravaging the team. If Matt LaFleur doesn’t get some award for the coaching job he’s done, then the pundits must be blind.
Aaron Rodgers, whether you love him or hate him, is still the best at what he does. Davante Adams is firmly on his way to a gold jacket and a hall of fame career. So those are all good things.
What’s not so good is how my other favorite football team, the Wisconsin Badgers, played on Saturday in Minneapolis.
I suppose I could have also led with the Wisconsin Badgers football team, and their recent loss to the Minnesota Gophers. Anyone who has read this column for any length of time knows how much I love my Badgers. Wisconsin is my alma mater, and is responsible in large part for making me the man I am today.
I was disgusted with Wisconsin’s performance against their rival.
M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS
game either. What should have been a great year is ending on a disappointing note. Then again, it’s also nice when a team does better than expected.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team is off to a great start. Wisconsin’s basketball team was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten, but so far has done extremely well, losing just one game, and knocking off some very good teams en route to capture the Maui Invitational last week.
The Badgers are led by Jonathan Davis, a former prep star out of La Crosse, and it’s great to see a homegrown talent make a splash on the national stage. After worrying this would be a long winter with little to cheer for in the way of the Badgers, my hopes are up that Wisconsin can make the NCAA tournament in March.
Winter is knocking on the door, and there’s snow on the ground now. Winters in Wisconsin can be long, dreary things, but those cold days and nights go by a lot quicker when you have something to look forward to, and I’ll be sure to watch some Badger basketball this year.
The defense looked porous, the offense anemic, and I think it’s clear that Paul Chryst, the head coach for the Badgers, needs to bring in some outside voices to help usher his offense into the 21st century.
You can still run the ball with authority in college football these days, and the Badgers have a ton of beef up front and a new breakout star at tailback, with Braelon Allen out of Fond du Lac looking every bit a star, but you still need to be able to consistently move the ball downfield.
The Badgers were unable to do this, and for that they lost. To be honest, they deserved to lose. The offense was bland and vanilla, and for just the second time in 17 years, the Gophers went home with Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
Which is fine by me. A little bit of humble pie can do wonders for providing motivation and fuel for next year’s game. And, as much as I enjoy watching the Badgers trounce Minnesota year after year, a onesided rivalry can grow stale.
The Badgers will not be in the Big Ten Championship game this year, and I doubt they’ll make a prestigious bowl
